George Drumgoole Coleman

George Drumgoole Coleman (1795-1844), also known as "George Drumgold Coleman", was an Irish civil architect who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of many of the civil infrastructure in Singapore, after the island was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819.

Born in County Louth, Ireland, Coleman was trained as a civil architect. He came to Singapore from Calcutta, India, where he had been working, by way of Batavia in 1822, and built his house at Number 3 Coleman Street, to his own design, for use as his residence.

Coleman was responsible, as advisor to Raffles, for the draft layout of Singapore in 1822. He planned the centre of the town, created roads, and constructed many fine buildings. An outstanding example of his work, which survives to this day, is the Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator on Hill Street, built in 1835.

In 1833, Coleman was appointed the Superintendent of Public Works. He was also the surveyor and overseer of convict labour. Coleman's house on Number 3 Coleman Street was demolished in December 1965 to make way for the current 21-storey Peninsula Hotel.

Coleman had earlier leased his house to Monsieur Dutronqouy in 1831, before his departure to England after 15 years of continuous work and 25 years in the East. While in Ireland on this trip he married Maria Frances Vernon, of Clontarf Castle, Dublin. On Coleman's unexpected return to Singapore with his bride in November 1843 as he could not settle down in Europe, he took possession of another house of his nearby, standing at 1 & 2 Coleman Street. It was there that he died in 1844, at the age of 49. He was buried in a cemetery at the foot of Bukit Larangan, now Fort Canning Hill. The impressive memorial over his mortal remains still stands at Fort Canning Park.

Legacy

George Drumgoole Coleman's name lives on in the following entities in Singapore:

*Coleman Street
*Coleman Bridge
*Coleman Place

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
*Lee Geok Boi (2002), "The Religious Monuments of Singapore", Landmark Books, ISBN 981-3065-62-1